Some Councillors take tens of thousands of dollars on top of their Councillor salary for directorships that come as a consequence of their Councillor roles. The People's Choice: 2021 questions whether some of these Councillors are doing their main job well enough.
"Councillors need to first do the hard yards of running Christchurch well", said Darel Hall Chair of The People's Choice 2021. "They need to earn their Councillor salaries first before they start looking at extra cash for roles that they are only eligible for because of their main job.
"The hard yards are, as many commentators have stated, committee work. Council ought to have committees with structured work programmes examining in detail all our programmes and their costs.
"We need a line by line review of expenditure and the removal of any gold plating of projects or expenditure commitments, particularly large capital expenditure, that cannot be realistically carried out but for which the people are none-the-less rated.
"It is not sufficient to rely on windfall government contributions and extra borrowing to achieve a low rates outcome. We need to structure low rates because the hard, the difficult, the unglamorous oversight work has to be done. We owe it to our children to work hard so we do not mortgage their future.
"Also the quite reasonable debate about the role of councillors and what they should be paid for needs to exclude comments about normal staff support. It is difficult to claim paid staff as some sort of private benefit.
"As at June 2007 The Council had 47 staff paid $100,000 or more. As of last month it was 90. That's a lot of extra expert advice . But at some point it just gets silly to add up staff costs and say that's a personal benefit to the Mayor or any current councillors.
"The debate ought to focus on our expectations of councillors, whether they are sufficiently focused on their core role, whether they should have other paid roles that come about only because of their core role as a councillor, and whether they are in fact sufficiently capable with their skill sets, rather than their position, to be the best people to contribute.
"These are fundamental issues about the governance of our city and deserve the attention they are getting", said Darel Hall




Tracey is a dynamic, energetic woman with several years of community involvement. She is willing to stand up for the underdog and speak for those who cannot speak up for themselves.

Judy is a current Community Board member for the Riccarton - Wigram ward. She is involved in a number of other organisations for youth, education and the wider community.

Islay lives in Linwood. She loves the area and wants to restore the community and environmental values that once had Christchurch residents proud to live here.

A board member for three years, Linda has a Community Service Award and is on Keep Christchurch Beautiful and Civil Defence. The environment and safe, happy communities are concerns for her.

Jasmin has strong experience working in the health sector. She is one of our youngest candidates and possesses a vibrant personality and a positive attitude.




Julie is a Correspondence School liaison teacher and has served as a deputy and acting principal at a local school. She wants to represent an area she has been part of for 40 years.




Karolin is an educator in the Human Rights Commission, a JP and a current community board member. Concerns are gaps between those who have and do not and the environment.




